Chassis refresh time

Refreshing all the chassis bushings is an area which are a must do for cars over 20 years old. The process is pretty straight forward so this post won't go into too much detail but still wanted to document for referencing.

I brought the car in around February 26th 2022 this year which is where it stayed for a number of months until I think around April 2022? The reason for the delay was the waiting on certain parts which were on backorder due to international and national demand.

For our nerdy pleassure I will attach here the parts and work outline which I had done at Best R. I have left out a few parts which can be done later, namely the steering bushings.

The options

When going for chassis refresh options there are a couple of combinations. First the full Nismo arms and bushing catalogue as the CRS BNR34 demo cars has. The second is full factory stock replacement of OEM arms and bushings similar to the Nismo Grand Touring Car (now labeled CRS) BCNR33 BNR32 demo cars. This is telling of their intended uses, track vs Touring.

It depends on your use case. Something I stress thoughout this blog.

I was initially considering OEM arms/links and bushings. Konishi-san of Best R recommended knowing the way I drive, the Nismo option for bushings and arms/links.

Anyone who has seen the paint on Nismo arms will realise the ideal is the stock OEM arms with Nismo hardened bushings. The paint quality is noticeably better on the OEM. (If anyone knows the difference between the arms/links other than the bushings and paint.)
The labour cost of pressing the Nismo bushings into the arms and links is more than just installing new Nismo arms and links which is the reason why that option is rarely used.

The Menu

The chassis refresh largely consisted of complete set of Nismo links and arms front and rear (the front links were the only part which was on backorder due to huge demand), front and rear hubs reusing the exisiting hub carriers just with a clean up, HICAS link and joints and to round the package off I included the rear subframe bracing, another Z-Tune (part no. 55450-RRR45) part.

One last final personal touch was to stick with new OEM rear subframe and diff mount bushings. This was inspired by one of Mizuno-san's(Mizuno Kazutoshi) lectures on the Nissan GTR's development. where he discussed the engine and transmisson/diff mounts were soft enough to allow dynamic movement separate from the body, giving the car more traction in all conditions. I thought this might give more compliance in the rear as well.

Grand total came to approx 750,000 JPY.

The impression

Car tracks straight and true now and no need to make the micro adjustments as I did before. Also gone is the yaw movement in the rear telling of a worn Super HICAS. 

I noticed my Ohlins now need a rebuild after 2 years since fitting them. Ride has become crashy over rapid surface changes. Some new work to be done..